This article discusses strategic considerations concerning identifications of support for claim amendments.

New Matter is Prohibited

Section 706.03(o) of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) addresses rejections based on new matter (matter not supported by the disclosure at the time of filing). This section of the MPEP, citing 35 U.S.C. § 132, articulates the rule that no amendment may introduce new matter into the disclosure of an invention.

The question of what constitutes new matter may sometimes be difficult to resolve. After all, an Applicant may rely on every part of the application as originally filed for support for a claim amendment. Additionally, an Applicant is entitled to rely on any inherent or implied teachings of the specification, drawing(s), and claims, in addition to the express teachings. Still further, because there is no in haec verba requirement, an Applicant is not constrained to the terminology used in the application as filed.

In view of the occasional difficulty in resolving new matter issues, and the objection/rejection an Examiner is instructed to make if there is a question of whether a claim amendment might introduce new matter, it may be prudent to consider including identifications of support for claim amendments to help avoid good faith, but ultimately incorrect, new matter rejections.

Identifying Support For a Claim Amendment May Have Risk

A cautious prosecutor, however, will recognize that every identification of support carries with it some risk. For example, there is a possible risk of error. This is of particular concern since an Applicant is correlating claim features to portions of the disclosure. Also, unless all support is identified, an Applicant risks an implication that only the identified portion(s) of a disclosure support an amendment. Both the argument estoppel of the former example and the implication of the latter can be problematic in litigation.

Because of the issues, it may be worth considering reserving identifications of specific support for situations when doing so will be advantageous to the Applicant.

A Risk/Reward Analysis Is Useful to Minimize Unnecessary Identifications of Support

A prosecutor can provide value to a client by engaging in a risk/reward analysis and, when the analysis weighs in favor of identifying support, doing so strategically. Here, the analysis might be whether the likelihood of an objection/rejection outweighs the risk of potential litigation issues, in view of factors such as whether: an Examiner has a history of questioning support for claim amendments; claim terminology deviates from what was used in the application as filed; and support will be difficult to locate in the originally filed disclosure.

Strategic Examples

1. A Generic Identification
When a risk/reward analysis does not weigh in favor of identifying support, the following paragraph might be used:

Applicant submits that support for these amendments can be found in the disclosure as originally filed, and therefore no new matter has been added.

2. A Specific, Non-Limiting Identification of Support
When a risk/reward analysis weighs in favor of identifying support for a claim amendment, the question becomes "how to do it?" An adequate way might be to state:

Applicant has amended claim 1. Paragraph [0025] of the Specification supports this amendment. Thus, no new matter has been added.

This identification is acceptable; it is efficient and direct. I submit, however, that this statement does little to address some of the risks inherent to identifications of support. Thus, there is room for improvement. Consider the following example:

Applicant has amended claim 1. Support for this amendment may be found at least at, for example, paragraph [0025] of the Specification as originally filed. Thus, no new matter has been added.

I submit that the latter paragraph is an improvement over the former because it is non-limiting. Consequently, it at least arguably avoids the potential litigation issues discussed above. First, the latter paragraph uses the word "may" instead of "is" or "can." The word "is" conveys certainty. The word "can" expresses the ability to do something. In contrast, according to many authorities, the word "may" indicates only a measure of likelihood or possibility. Thus, "may" is arguably more appropriate, since the specified location is "an example." Second, the latter paragraph is crafted to state only that paragraph [0025] provides an example of support, which can be beneficial if other, better, or more advantageous support is identified later in prosecution or litigation.

In the end, the way an applicant identifies support is not as important as understanding when it is necessary and the risks involved. These considerations will dictate how and when to identify support for a claim amendment.